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LIABILITY FOR OMISSIONS

Robert Hiscocks

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Liability for Omissions

• “An omission, without a duty, will not create an offence”

• R v Wm Smith

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Liability for Omissions: Requirements

• D must have a legal duty to act• He must breach that duty• The breach must cause the offence to

occur• D must have the necessary mens rea for

the offence (where the offence requires mens rea)

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Duty to Act: Statutory Duty

e.g.• Road Traffic Act 1988 s. 170• Terrorism Act 2000 s. 19• Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 s. 330

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Duty to Act

• Public office holdersR v Dytham• Contractual dutyR v Pittwood

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Legal Duty to Act

• Parental dutyR v Gibbins & Proctor• Voluntary assumption of dutyGibbins & ProctorR v InstanR v Stone & Dobinson

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Legal Duty to Act: Creation of Danger

• R v Miller“I see no rational ground for excluding from conduct capable of giving rise to criminal liability, conduct which consists of failing to take measures that lie within one’s power to counteract a danger that one has oneself created, if at the time of such conduct one’s state of mind is such as constitutes a necessary ingredient of the offence.”

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Control over 3rd Parties

• Du Cros v Lambourne

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Withholding Life Saving Treatment

• R v Arthur• Airedale NHS Trust v Bland

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Summary/Reminder

• D must have a legal duty to act• He must breach that duty• The breach must cause the offence to

occur• D must have the necessary mens rea for

the offence (where the offence requires mens rea)